The present invention relates to a silicone-containing fabric-finishing composition and a method of finishing a fabric material using the same. More particularly, the invention relates to a fabric-finishing agent containing a novel silicone or organopolysiloxane as the principal ingredient and a method of finishing a fabric material using the same by which the fabric material can be imparted with markedly improved antistatic effect and pleasantly soft touch.
It is well known that, among various types of silicone-containing fabric-finishing agents, those containing a modified organopolysiloxane having aminoalkyl groups or epoxy groups impart the fabric materials treated therewith with excellent softness and pleasant touch (see, for example, Japanese Patent Publications Nos. 48-1480, 54-3617 and 59-26707). It is also known that sewbility of textiles can be improved by use of a textile oil which is an oily polymer such as dimethylpolysiloxanes or dimethylsilicone fluids.
These silicones, i.e. dimethylsilicone and modified silicone fluids, are indeed effective in respect of the lubricity and softness imparted to the fabric materials finished therewith. A serious problem in the use thereof is, however, the disadvantageous phenomenon of increased electrostatic charging on the fabric materials treated therewith due to the generally high electric insulation inherent in silicones. Namely, clothes of a silicone-finished textile may be electrostatically charged to cause an unpleasant shock to the wearer by the discharge. Charged clothes may readily adsorb the dusts in the ambient air to be dirty increasingly. When threads treated with a silicone as a lubricating agent are used in sewing, drawbacks are sometimes caused that the threads are entangled or the desired effect of lubrication is insufficient when the threads are electrostatically charged.